


A Folktale Never Told

by TentacleBubbles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Iwa is a deer, M/M, Oikawa is a wolf, Shapeshifting, forest, idk i was just fighting writer's block, really pretty aesthetic??, territory talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 19:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15150731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TentacleBubbles/pseuds/TentacleBubbles
Summary: This isn't a folktale most people told. There are no humans, no big fights nor huge conflicts. Just a chance meeting, and maybe a friendship that both of them needed.ORI was just fighting writer's block and this is a really aesthetic piece (I think)





	A Folktale Never Told

The wolf and the deer stared at each other.

They happened upon each other completely by chance. The wolf was taking his usual route from his dwelling to his playground, this clearing he’d found with very nice places to hide in or climb and with a sizeable pool created by the waterfall coming from somewhere up the nearby mountain.

The deer was exploring the forest he’d found himself in after one night too many of restless running, because he’d been spotted and nearly shot at by humans _again_ and he needed to get rid of frustrations about the hunting season that he couldn’t control anyway.

And now the two of them came upon each other, nothing but a bush and a few feet between them.

The wolf wondered how he’d missed the scent of the pretty little buck, dark coat and green eyes and huge, proud antlers. The wolf was bigger, but the buck had a thickness to its haunches that added to its daunting figure.

The deer was wondering if he could outrun the wolf. He’d caught the scent a couple of miles ago, but was too distracted to pay it any mind. The wolf was big, with fluffy brown fur and brown eyes widened in surprise. The deer had heard the tell-tale sound of flowing water and was just hoping for a drink, not a run-in with a wolf.

The woods were quiet, in the way only woods were able to be. Everything seemed peaceful, nature padding along on its furred, flowered or mossy feet as time rolled by with each bright ray of sunshine brushing past the canopy of leaves crowding the tops of trees.

The wolf cocked its head, curious. The deer stiffened, ready to bolt. He didn’t know if he could outrun the wolf, but he sure as hell going to try. Then the wolf spoke.

“Don’t leave,” he said, almost hastily.

The deer’s eyes widened, as if caught in a spotlight. The wolf had spoken to him.

In a flash of sunlight, the wolf was a man. Fluffy brown hair, tall and powerful, big brown eyes. He wore layers of loose robes, mostly white with some brown and blue. His fluffy wolf ears were perked up in attention, but otherwise he’d attempted to appear relaxed and harmless.

The deer only deemed it polite to return the gesture. Another beat, ray of sunshine, and he’s standing on two legs, in darker robes. His antlers made him taller still, rising from his spiky black hair like an elaborate crown. His robes did not hide his broad shoulders. Perhaps if he had sharp teeth and sharper claws, he’d be able to beat the human-wolf in combat.

“What’s your name?” the wolf asked, when silence began to stretch between them again.

“Are you going to eat me?” the deer asked instead of answering, green eyes narrowed, voice gruff.

“I don’t eat things bigger than bunnies,” the wolf admitted with a shrug.

The deer thought this over, then nodded. Emboldened, the wolf asked again, “so what’s your name?”

The deer still regarded him with confusion, but he answered hesitantly, “Iwaizumi.”

The wolf smiled, maybe not noticing how he did so slowly, and showing teeth.

“Are you lost, Iwa-chan?”

The deer stiffened further, head rearing back slightly. The wolf’s gaze flitted up to his antlers for a second, fascinated, before going back to the Iwaizumi’s face.

“Don’t worry,” the wolf assured him, still grinning his wolf’s teeth grin, “I won’t eat you.”

Iwaizumi very much doubted it, and he was really very ready to bolt. But something about the wolf-human made him pause.

“What’s _your_ name?” Iwaizumi demanded, kind of. He hadn’t meant to sound like so.

“Oikawa,” the wolf supplied rather easily, tilting his head again, “you know, I don’t see many of our kind around.” He had stopped grinning, but his curious gaze was no less _hungry._

That was true for Iwaizumi too, though. He’d never known what he was exactly, aside from being one with nature and not really human. He didn’t think he’d meet anyone like him. He was just as curious as the wolf – Oikawa, even if he didn’t show it.

“There’s a waterfall over that way,” Oikawa gestured to the west, where he’d been heading anyway. Iwaizumi was making his way towards it as well, but he didn’t know that.

“Do you want to walk with me there?” Oikawa asked. Offered. This was painfully obviously his territory. And he was showing Iwaizumi where the water place was. Something about it seemed… friendly.

“Okay,” Iwaizumi nodded. They began walking, side by side, still a few feet apart. They didn’t talk, but kept most of their attention on each other.

They arrived at the clearing, the waterfall pouring crystal clear water into the pool at its bottom like nothing was amiss. Iwaizumi did not step into the clearing, keeping a tree and a bush between him and Oikawa.

The wolf had no such intention, walking ahead to the edge of the pool and taking his time drinking from it. He seemed completely at ease in the familiar place, although Iwaizumi wouldn’t know for some time that it was all for show. He was just as jittery as the deer, for a different reason.

He’d hoped he found a friend, and desperately didn’t want to scare Iwaizumi away. He was lonely. They both were, really.

Iwaizumi must’ve guessed _something_ like that, since the tension in his shoulders left completely by the time he’d made his way beside Oikawa. At the very least, he figured if Oikawa wasn’t going to eat him, there’s no immediate danger. Humans wouldn’t venture this deep into the woods, not into wolf territory.

He wasn’t sure when they started talking. Strike that, Oikawa began chattering nonstop as soon as Iwaizumi had sat down beside him to drink. At some point, he had coaxed Iwaizumi into engaging him in conversation. And then the sun was setting.

Iwaizumi stood up to begin heading back. Back to where, he didn’t know, since he wasn’t about to go get shot at again. But he couldn’t stay here, can he?

“Don’t leave,” Oikawa whined. Iwaizumi raised a brow at him.

“It’s night and outside my territory, humans shoot at stuff,” Oikawa scrambled for a reason, anything to keep his new friend from leaving him to be all alone all over again, “my dwelling is clean, and safe and – and it’s big enough that – it’s big enough.”

Iwaizumi frowned. He couldn’t stay here, _can_ he?

“Okay,” he found himself saying. For the night, he told Oikawa, and himself. Satisfied with this, Oikawa lead him towards his dwelling; a nice, dry cave filled with warm stuff like human-made blankets and carefully dried leaves woven into thick, soft padding.

Iwaizumi was secretly pleased that it didn’t have any animal furs nor did it smell like anything died in there.

Oikawa very proudly announced that he didn’t want to bother with drying fur pelts, and bird feathers were usually too prickly for him. Plus, he very much wanted to keep his home clean, he’s not a barbarian, Iwa-chan.

They settled in for the night, Iwaizumi in one corner, Oikawa very politely staying in another. As he drifted off, Iwaizumi wondered if it would be so bad to stay until the hunting season was over. Getting shot at was annoying.

Sometime in the night he woke up, Oikawa was snuggled against him in his full, fluffy wolf glory. Iwaizumi himself had gone from buff to buck in his sleep. He went back to sleep, imagining himself staying even long after the hunting season.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think? :D


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